


Incidental Obligation

by Paigelew_writes



Category: The Good Cop (TV)
Genre: #post season, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-07 04:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16401128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paigelew_writes/pseuds/Paigelew_writes
Summary: A three part story. Lt. Detective Caruso and Detective Vasquez follow a lead and performs a search on an abandoned building to find their wanted suspects. They soon find out their lead was.. misleading. Something about that night is bothering TJ, and he and Cora are going to have to solve it together (while he is recovering in his own house...)





	1. Chapter 1

It was a bust gone wrong. Or even worse, it was a setup. When Lt. Detective Caruso and Detective Vasquez stormed the building in search of their drug dealer/murderer, quite a few things caught them by surprise. For one, the explosion. It rocked the already decaying building and startled everyone inside.They were in a dilapidated construction zone. An abandoned project that suffered cut funding. That left a semi standing building with numerous construction hazards and the added ones of decay. The first minor collapses brought everyone to a halt.  
“We have to clear out now,” TJ ordered. “Now!”  
Everyone ran for the nearest exit. A scream brought TJ to a halt as they were running down the stairs. Cora faltered as she realized her partner wasn’t behind her. “Caruso ” she called. “We have to go! You said so yourself!”   
TJ swallowed. “There’s someone in here. I’ll be out in 2 minutes.” Then he ran before she could say anything. She quickly dashed up the stairs again to follow. She caught a glimpse of his jacket as he rounded a corner at the end of the hall. She was about to turn the corner when she heard TJ yell. “POLICE! GET DOWN!” She rounded the corner and dove next to TJ as someone opened fire on them, nothing but a few toppled file lockers shielding them from the onslaught of bullets. “This is Lt. Detective Caruso. Requesting immediate backup on the second level. About 3 or 4 men, average build with fortified weaponry,” he said through his radio, pressing himself into the lockers a little more. Cora listened intently to the shouts from the other perps farther off.   
“There’s two of them,” she heard one announce.   
“Doesn’t matter, they’re both cops!”  
“Go around and cut them off!”  
TJ and Cora looked at each other. They had to move.  
“We need to get back to the stairwell,” TJ said, pulling out his radio. “Where is backup!” He demanded.  
“Explosions have caused a collapse in the eastern stairwell,” the radio sputtered. “Western stairwell should have more luck.”  
The sound of empty barrels and men reloading quickly caught TJ’s attention. “Cora run, I’m right behind you,” he ordered, counting his bullets.  
“What? No! I’m not leaving you behind! That’s crazy!”  
“No! I’m not,” he groaned. “I’m not an idiot I’m saying I’m right behind you!” He fires off two shots halting the others for a split second longer. “Go!”  
She bolted, still checking to make sure TJ was behind her and surprisingly he was. “Go right!” TJ directed as they turned down another hall with a stair sign in sight. A bullet ricocheted off a nearby pole causing TJ and Cora to hide behind separate concrete pillars. They quickly returned fire then resumed their sprint down the hallway.  
A shot rang, and TJ cried out, falling to his knees.  
“Tj! Cora exclaimed.  
“Get down!” He yelled, pulling himself behind a pillar. He is hand gingerly prodded at a spot at his waist just below his vest. “I’m hit. It’s a through and through.”  
Cora sighed in some relief as it wasn’t anything too life threatening yet.  
“Can you make it the rest of the way?” She yelled over the gunfire. Tj winced as he grasped his side then slowly pulled himself to a standing position. He gave her a small thumbs up.  
The gunshots receded. Cora and TJ held their breath. After clearing the hall they bolted to the door.  
A man emerged from behind one of the pillars and aimed directly at her.  
She froze.  
Just as the shot rang off she was shoved harshly through the door. TJ toppling in after her. Using the lock on the door and several concrete blocks she secured the door. The banging on the other side already strained the hinges and the old lock.  
She turned back to TJ who was now gasping for air. “Cora,” He panted.  
“Talk to me,” she instructed quickly ripping open his shirt. He grimaced, whether from embarrassment or pain, she couldn’t tell. The through the through wound was bleeding heavily, more than she liked. An indentation in the vest revealed a tiny bullet, probably for his loss of breath. “Come on, down the stairs,” she said, attempting to help him up. A rather loud bang startled both of them, the hinges visibly shifting under the stress.   
“We can’t get out in time,” TJ explained hurriedly. “We still have to navigate the collapses downstairs and I can barely walk. We can’t do that with these guys on our heels.”  
“TJ, I’m not leaving you,” Cora responded incredulously.  
“I’m not asking you to,” TJ stressed, hissing again. “I’m telling you. Back up can’t seem to find us. I’ll hold them off long enough for you to get help.” Another bang, the door started to buckle.  
Again, Cora found herself hesitating. “Go now!” He shouted, startling her. She stood.   
“You better be here,” she states coldly.  
“I’m not that easy to get rid of,” TJ said with half a smirk. Cora helped him stand before she silently departed.   
——————  
The door burst open barely hanging on its hinges. Two men came out and looked up and down. One indicated to the blood stain on the floor.   
“Most of the first floor is destroyed,” one said. I’m guessing they’re looking for another way out.”  
“Yeah, well one’s hit. We should be able to find them easily enough.” They started down the stairs. Suddenly, an object clattered to the steps in front of them.  
The two men looked up then at each other. Slowly and carefully, they turned and headed up.

Cora caught her breath when she heard the door burst open. She could hear them approaching and backed further into her corner.  
She had made it to the bottom of the stairs and tried the door. It was stuck. She she could open it, but not without making a lot of noise. So when the two fugitives came out, she hid.  
The sound of something hitting the steps above her almost startled her. Everything went quiet. She heard the footsteps receding as they changed direction. Slowly, Cora emerged from her hiding spot. She looked towards the steps and froze.  
A blood-smeared detective’s badge.  
————  
Outside. Louis was carefully watching the building in front of him. His pristine coat was eyed by other dust covered officers but no one needed an explanation when it was Burl, the Tired Detective. He didn’t plan on doing this raid, but as soon as the radio started spouting things such as bombs and building collapses, he had to at least spectate.  
A radio next to him went off.  
“This is Detective Cora Vasquez. Requesting back up and aid. The west staircase is blocked on the first floor. Two persons of interest are currently in the building. Lt. Detective Caruso has been shot. I repeat: we have an officer down.”  
Burl nabbed the radio. “Vasquez, it’s Loomis. What is the condition of Caruso?” There was silence.   
“I don’t know. We separated. He wouldn’t let me take him with me. He’s hiding for all I know. He’s at least on the third level. I need to find a way out, getting this door unstuck is risky. It could alert the fugitives of my whereabouts.”  
“What is your ammunition status?” Burl asked.   
“I only have a 2 maybe 3 shots left,” Cora admitted. “Caruso is low too.”  
“What staircase did you say you were in?”  
“West.”  
Burl coordinated with several other officers and firemen before picking up the radio again. “Cora, there are more active explosives on the first level that could detonate anytime. Walking through there is like a minefield. And the structure is unstable.”   
“Then what am I supposed to do?”  
Before Burl could respond. Several gunshots echoed from inside the building. The captain appeared next to Burl and took the radio.   
“Detective Vasquez, based off those gunshots, those men are on the 4th level. If you go back to the west staircase, we have men who have almost gotten past the debris in that staircase. You’ll have a cleanshot of getting out.”  
“What about Caruso?” Cora asked quickly. Burl looked to the captain who kept her eyes on the building in front of her.   
“Getting you out is our first priority,” she said. “There are still active explosives in the building and we can’t risk any more men.”  
Cora didn’t respond.   
“Detective this is a direct order!” the captain repeated. The radio fizzled.   
“Caruso always said I had a problem with authority,” was all she said before the radio went silent. “Five minutes.”  
_____________  
TJ was surprisingly quick to get up the stairs. He watched carefully as the two men looked back and forth, then started down the stairs. Without thinking, he ripped off his badge and tossed it down the stairs, landing it right in front of the two criminals. They stopped, and he didn’t need to stay to know they had changed their course of direction.   
Skipping the third floor, TJ made his way to the fourth, slipping inside and scanning his surroundings. Boxes and crates of construction supplies scattered across the floor. The scaffolding and pillars were the only thing up on this floor, not even the drywall had been unpacked yet. Not a lot of cover. He quickly dove behind a rather large group of boxes just as the stairwell door burst open.   
“Where are you, cop!” one man yelled. “I can smell your blood! Hurts, doesn’t it?”  
TJ adjusted his grip on his gun, checking the magazine before bracing himself against the wall of boxes. The blood on his hands was unsettling, and set the challenge to hold his gun properly.   
“Probably doesn’t hurt as much as it did to my brother!” the man yelled again. “Josh, seek him out.”  
TJ swallowed, trying to quiet his frantic breath. He was terrified. There were a hundred ways this could have gone better and yet somehow he was here. The crunch of glass right around the edge of the box of crates nearly made him jump. He steadied his gun.   
As soon as the figure emerged from around the side of the crates, the gun in sight, TJ fired. First the hand, then the kneecap. ‘Josh’ toppled over.   
There was more swearing and running footsteps. He appeared around the crates next as TJ was attempting to stand up. Instantly, he fired. The shot hit the other in the leg. TJ positioned his gun again ready to shoot, but apparently, the drug dealer got his message. He scrambled, and in his get away, shoved over the boxes and crates of construction supplies upon his shooter.   
_________  
Two other officers had managed to find Cora in an attempt to bring her out (from their own good will). She politely but quickly declined and started heading back up to the fourth floor where the shots were coming from. And, in their good nature, the two cops followed. They had clambered over the rubble of the eastern staircase, and since they were here, they might as well save one of their own.   
They silently crept up the steps of the western staircase. Only several bloodstains indicated to the Lt. Detective’s presence earlier. Cora swallowed her nerves before opening the door and stepping out onto the fourth floor. It was quiet.  
“I’ve got a body,” one officer reported. Cora turned her head but was quickly relieved to instantly see the unrecognizable clothing. Cora explored ahead. “Caruso?” She called carefully. Silence. “TJ?”The smallest, pained groan reached her ears. She turned around, the other two officers looked around them as well.  
She noticed the tiniest shift of topple pile of boxes and realization hit her. “Caruso!” She ran over quickly trying to pull the crates off of him. They were heavy, at least 75lbs each. As she started shifting boxes, she heard the labored breathing followed by a weak; “Cora…?”  
“Hey, hey I’m here,” she assured as the other officers quickly and carefully helped pull of the remaining crates. There was a small amount of blood just starting to pool on the concrete. Cora carefully pressed down with a tattered construction cloth she had found, causing TJ hiss.  
“We need to get him out of here,” one of the officers said. “And this one is still alive.”  
“Update the captain, we need to see if they can help guide us to the next best thing,” Cora instructed, turning back for a moment to TJ. She looked around. “Help me find a first aid kit. There should be one lying around as apart of the construction safety code.” The other officer nodded and stood in search of the medical kit. Cora started unbuttoning TJ’s vest to get a properly see the wound.   
“...Cora…” TJ muttered. “What… what are you doing?”  
“Don’t get your hopes up, Caruso,” Cora sighed, taking the vest off and slowly peeling back his shirt.  
“No that’s not what I…” he hesitated to take another breath.   
“We just need to bandage this up well enough to get you out of here,” Cora finished, accepting the first aid kit from the returning officer.   
“Captain is saying they’ve managed to secure the fire access down on the third floor, but we need to be fast. They don’t want to continue risking more people while the building is still unstable,” the first officer reported. Cora nodded.   
“Can he stand?” she asked referring to the fallen fugitive. The officer nodded.   
“Yeah, he’s very cooperative with a bullet in his hand and knee,” he smirked.   
Cora turned back to TJ. “Listen, we’re heading down one flight of stairs and headed for the fire exit, okay? Can you make it?”  
TJ sighed, then winced. “Yeah… I think I can manage.”  
“Good.” Cora wrenched the bandage down tight across the bullet wound. TJ yelped, also trying to catch his breath. “Relax. It’s a through and through remember?” TJ glared at her, but said nothing.   
They got TJ to his feet. While TJ was pretty capable of standing on his own, Cora stood by him as extra means of support and they made their way down the stairs.   
“That’s new,” TJ pointed out, referring to the trail of blood leading down the stairs.   
“That’s now yours?” Cora asked, furrowing her brow.   
“That’s mine,” TJ gestured to the few smears and occasional drops of blood on the floor near the wall. “Must have been the other one.” The group stopped.   
“Other one?” Cora repeated.   
“You don’t remember there being two men after us?” TJ returned.   
“Oh I’m sorry, just remember you ordering me to get the hell out of here before you went off to go get yourself killed,” Cora argued.   
“You two sure you aren’t married,” one of the officers mused.   
“Yes,” they returned simultaneously. But that was the end of the argument.   
“We’ll continue towards the fire escape,” Cora said. “We can’t stay here any longer.” Everyone silently agreed and stepped onto the third floor. Quickly walking down the half constructed hallway, they reached the other end in no time. The first officer with the fugitive stepped out, testing the fire escape then headed down. Then TJ, Cora, and the second officer. When they reached the bottom, they were greeted with more policemen, paramedics, Burl, and the captain.  
“Thank god, you’re all okay,” she sighed. “What happened in there?”  
“It was an ambush,” TJ shrugged, then immediately regretted his decision. “The way those explosives were set, we were supposed to be trapped and attacked. I’m guessing their chain of command or orders were mixed up considering how disorganized the explosions were. Plus, the initial attack was on the fly. They had little to no strategy.”  
The captain frowned. “Get to the bus, Caruso. You’re look like you’re about to drop where you stand.”  
“Well just ask Vasquez. I should be fine since it’s just a through and through.”  
———————  
It was bad. And TJ didn’t have the energy to give Cora the I-told-you-so argument or even a look. Maybe it was all his energy spent trying to maintain his dignity and not pass out on anyone. Or trying to ignore Cora’s stares as the paramedics ripped open his shirt to reveal his battered chest.  
Could have been a number of things.   
The paramedics had said (either to him or Cora, he couldn’t really tell) that they had to stabilize him and get him to a hospital for X-rays. They mentioned preventing him from progressing further into shock and it was at that point, TJ’s body decided to check out and he slipped into blissful unconsciousness.   
——————-  
Cora listened carefully to every word the paramedics said as they worked on their patient. And as the vehicle started and headed down the road, it suddenly struck her as a mystery as how she had really ended up in the ambulance in the first place.  
Caruso was the only blame she could come up with. She watched as they hooked him up to an IV and a blood bag then placed a blanket and gave him an oxygen mask.  
“Shock,” one of the paramedics explained. “We have to regulate is temperature.” Cora nodded, but said nothing.She could have left. She could have gotten into her own car and drop by later when he was settled, but somehow she was here.  
Caruso, she thought again as the ambulance pulled up to the hospital.   
———————————-  
Being the son of a cop, a cop himself, and the father of a cop, Tony did have reason to be nervous. He didn’t get nervous often, but this was one of those events that at least called for staying up till your kid walked through the door.   
So when it was a quarter till midnight, Tony was getting anxious. His phone rang, startling him. He nabbed at the device, his hands slightly trembled with dread.  
“Hello?” He greeted.  
“Caruso, this is Detective Vasquez,” Cora greeted. Her tone was even.  
“Save the formalities, what happened? Where is he?” Tony demanded, standing up.  
Cora sighed. “St. Martin’s Hospital. It was an ambush. However, the doctors say he’s going to be okay.”  
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Tony replied before snapping his phone shut and grabbing his coat.  
————————-  
It was only maybe an hour when a doctor came back out and took Cora to his room. He was settled, and fast asleep. Cora smirked. This was TJ, fast asleep, without his Macy’s pajamas or special sound machine. She almost laughed. Then again, she had never actually seen him asleep either, and the stillness was… odd.   
She knew it wouldn’t be long before Caruso Sr. arrived so she took a seat and carefully held his hand.  
Now it was just a little more waiting.   
_______________  
When Tony Caruso marched through the door, the bravado was… lacking. The charm was gone. That didn’t give the doctors any ease though and he was quickly shown to his son’s room.   
When he got there, Cora greeted him at the door.  
“Quiet,” she warned in a low voice. “He’s asleep.”  
“What happened?” Tony asked, looking over her shoulder to get a look at his kid. She slowly stepped outside and closed the door. The doctor that escorted them spoke up.   
“He’s suffered some trauma to his chest, so he’ll be bruised and quite sore for a while. The bullet wound was ugly, but still a clean through shot. He’ll just get a nasty scar. I’d say he needs a week of down time, then he can go back to some light work. He should be back to normal in about a month.” After making sure there was no further questions, he left. Cora and Tony went back into the room to sit down.  
“You know,” Tony said quietly. “You don’t have to be here. I mean you’ve already done so much, you should rest.” Cora smiled.  
“Thanks but, I want to be here,” she assured. “And even if I didn’t? I’d have to wait for Loomis to bring me my car. It was left at the station.”  
Tony nodded thoughtfully before settling down again. “Well that’s a small cot in the corner if you want to take it. I was planning on getting a snack, Besides, you’ve gotta be exhausted after that search, let alone saving Junior.”  
Cora almost laughed, with Tony calling his kid ‘Junior’. It had to be rare at least. So Tony skunked off to the cafeteria as Cora decided to get some shut eye.  
——————————  
Tony didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep until the bed his head rested on shifted. He looked up to see TJ, still asleep, but something was wrong. There was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead and his eyes were screwed shut. “TJ?” Tony called carefully. The shuddering breath sparked more concerned. “TJ? Anthony, wake up,” he said louder. A small shake to the shoulder awoke the sleepy cop. He blinked heavily.  
“What…” he looked around him. It was barely even light outside, almost dusk. TJ swallowed. “What happened?”  
“You were shot,” Cora said, startling both Caruso men. “Thought you’d remember something like that.”  
“No I remember that…” TJ thought aloud. “The captain was talking to us after we got out. I think some paramedics started helping me, but I don’t remember anything after that.”  
“You went into shock,” Cora explained, taking a seat next to him. “You passed out shortly after they bisected the gunshot wound. They had you on an IV, oxygen, and wrapped you in a heating blanket to keep you stable. Then they had to transfuse about a pint and a half of blood because you had lost a little too much too fast. You’re blood pressure was dropping.”  
Tj nodded as he absentmindedly rubbed at his aching chest.  
“Plus you bruised some ribs,” she added. Tj barely acknowledged her as he was lost in thought. “Well a thank you would suffice. Hospital Cora aren’t very comfy you know?”  
“Oh, sorry. No. I mean - thank you… in just confused…” he rubbed his eyes.  
“About what?” Cora asked.  
“I don’t know,” Tj sighed. “Something about the ambush. There was something off about it that I can’t put my finger on.”  
“Well we caught the other guy,” Cora shrugged. “The one you shot in the leg? He was caught when he came crawling out of that building.”  
Tj was quiet. “Maybe,” was all he said.   
“Kid, get some more sleep,” his father suggested. “The sooner you’re out of here the better.”  
TJ nodded slowly settling down again to close his eyes. It was maybe 5 minutes later when Cora and Tony were sure he was asleep when he shot up(with quite a few aches) eyes wide open.  
“What the heck? TJ What are you doing? Go back to sleep!” Cora scolded. He didn’t respond.  
“Cora,” he said carefully. “Who screamed?”


	2. Part 2

"Who... screamed?" Cora clarified  
“Yeah the reason why I went on the second floor. Someone screamed. It was a woman, I’m sure of it,” Tj explained.  
“Caruso,” Cora said, sitting down next to him on his bed. “There was no woman in that building, we were ambushed by a group of men. When NYPD finally got into the building they found several dead gunman but not a single woman.”  
“But I’m not crazy,” he insisted. “I mean, didn’t you hear it?”  
Cora hesitated. Did she? Didn’t she? “...Yes…”  
Tony was looking at them both estranged. “Well it’s not uncommon for someone to scream,” Tony reasoned. “And why are you siding with him? You were just assuring him he wasn’t crazy! I mean what are you going to do, open an investigation over a scream?”  
There was a pause.  
“We’re at least going to look into it,” she said, then turned back to TJ. “In the meantime, please get some sleep. I’m heading home.”  
——————————-  
Tj did sleep. A lot. His double shifts and late nights had really caught up to him after that raid. He was released only the day after going into the hospital. They made sure that there wasn’t a risk of infection, and that he was mostly capable of standing, walking, and taking his own pain meds before leaving.  
So the Caruso household was quiet, which drove Tony nuts. With the assurance that his son had his phone, he’d go visit Wendell or spend a day at Farrell’s.  
Cora stopped by on what was day 4 of TJ’s recovery, knowing that the older Caruso wasn’t faring well with cabin fever. She couldn’t imagine how the latter felt.  
When she showed up though, she found he had just woken up from yet another nap. His hair was unruly when he answered the door and glasses crooked on his face.  
“What’s up Sleeping Beauty?” she greeted. He sighed and let her in. He was still in his pajamas but it looked as if he had dropped the Macy’s pj’s and went for a half attempt on getting dressed and landed in sweatpants instead.  
He offered her a cup from his freshly brewed pot of coffee and she accepted. “Hey aren’t you supposed to be avoiding caffeine while you’re on this medication?” she asked, picking up one of prescription bottles on the counter.  
“Yes,” he said, passing her the cup. “It’s for my father. Who supposedly needs 3 to 4 cups a day.” He leaned back against the sink. “How are things at the station?”  
Cora took a sip from her mug. “Slow, unfortunately. We haven’t gotten anywhere with our arrested fugitives. None have given helpful information on how the ambush was organized.”  
“They didn’t even give any pointers to who was in charge?” He asked. She shook her head.  
“No, I’ll be bringing an updated case file tomorrow, cause we need some fresh eyes on this. Although,” she gave him a hard stare. “Doesn’t seem like you have the freshest eyes either. Are you sleeping okay?”  
Tj laughed, then winced again, holding a hand to his aching side. “That’s just it. I’ve never slept this much in my life. I’m almost afraid to return to work as I can only go so long without the need to sleep for an hour or so.”  
“Maybe it’s the medication?” Cora suggested. “I could have Ryan test this stuff, read on the side effects. He doesn’t need to know it’s yours, just a little favor for me. Besides, he’s been dying to test out the new forensics system.”  
“Go ahead,” he shrugged. There was a contemplative pause. “...I do want to go back to that building. I feel like I’m forgetting something.”  
“You’ll just have to wait… 3 more days,” Cora tusked. TJ had to look away, biting his lip in deep thought.  
“Wait, don’t tell me Anthony Caruso Jr is having a moral conflict?”  
“What? No! I - it’s not a moral conflict! It’s - I’m just thinking!”  
Cora smiled at his flustered talk. “Listen, if we go, you’ll technically be off duty. Like… when we visited the shooting range.” He looked up at her.  
“Today?”  
She shrugged. “If you’re so desperate to see it, then let’s go for it. Even if it’s just to help you rest easier at night and make the most of recovery. Although, if you fall asleep, I'm not carrying you.”  
Tj agreed and hurried upstairs to change. Stopping by an old photo of his mother, he sighed. “I’ve got my vest,” he said quietly before meeting Cora downstairs and writing his father a quick note.  
——————  
The drive over was very quiet and it wasn’t because TJ had fallen asleep. Cora looked over to see him staring out the window. “You okay?” she asked. “Having second thoughts?”  
Tj sighed. “No, no, it’s alright. Just… thinking.”  
“Penny for your thoughts?” She supplied, silently cursing the slow moving traffic.  
“I dunno,” he pursed his lips. “I just. I’ve been thinking a lot about my mother… and what my dad said. I’m not sure why it’s bugging me.”  
“What did he say?”she asked.  
“Over 500 people in the middle of the day on a busy corner and no witnesses,” he said before staring out the window again. Cora was about to ask for an elaboration when she suddenly realized what he meant. She turned to where he was looking and saw the lamppost with his mother’s face and a bouquet of flowers attached to it. She swallowed, unsure of what to say.  
“So has anything new turned up recently about your mother’s case that has been bothering you?”  
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Sometimes I think that I could have done something but really… that’s foolish thinking. More and more often my dad is telling me that I ‘remind him too much of her’. But that’s just… Tony.”  
The car grew quiet again.  
“That makes me wonder,” Cora said aloud. “We had a dozen squad cars outside and how many more extra personal swarming the scene. How come no one else saw this woman? Or heard her? I mean there were reports that they could hear our shouting and the gunshots. But no one heard the scream? And NYPD secures the building, they didn’t find anyone in there.”  
TJ shook his head. “Even if we don’t find anything today, at least we’ll know we tried.”  
——————  
Upon arriving, TJ had to do a double take on the building in front of him. It was marginally different from when they had first stormed the building the week before. “The northwest part of the building collapsed,” Cora explained. “There’s plenty of sectioned off hazardous areas we won’t go into.”  
“I’m perfectly fine with that.”  
They walked through the double doors, carefully stepping inside. TJ wasn’t sure what Cora had meant by any “cleanup” or “investigation” as most of the first floor was a complete mess. Collapsed pillars, broken construction supplies and piles of concrete everywhere. He followed Cora to the west hallway staircase where it seemed large chunks of debris had been pulled back to free the stairwell door.  
“We should explore the second level since that’s where you heard the scream,” Cora explained as they started up. At the door of the second floor, TJ frowned at the blood stain against the far wall and the subtle but noticeable trail leading up the stairs.  
“You okay?” Cora asked, seeing TJ experience the flashbacks to the horrific event.  
“Yup, fine, it’s just…” TJ stuttered, turning on his heel to head through the door. “Just not used to not seeing my blood… out… on the floor and walls… dried. Not very normal.” He fell into muttering as his handle on his nerves slipped a little. He cleared his throat as they walked down the hallway, trying to recenter his train of thought.  
Cora purposefully ignored his awkward moment and asked thoughtfully; “So you heard the scream and you came in here. What happened?”  
“I followed the sound to this hallway,” TJ explained, turning the first corner. “Went right. I spotted men holding up in this room but I was spotted as well. That’s when they opened fire and I had to duck. You know the rest since that’s when you joined me.”  
“Okay, but that was all men,” Cora reminded him. “Not a single female was accounted for. TJ started walked around the room. The other end was mostly cardboard or unfinished drywall. One section was a temporary sheet of wood with a trash chute attached. TJ furrowed his brow and looked between some of the cracks in the wall to see the trash chute extend to the first floor, landing in a dumpster.  
“Cora,” he called. “Would you be able to fit through that?” Cora walked over and peered her head inside.  
“Uh yeah,” she shrugged. “I mean it’s pretty big, you know for large chunks of trash. If I went down that I’d barely be able to stop myself from falling all the way to the bottom.” There was a pause. “Oh my god,” realization suddenly dawning.  
“Yeah.”  
————————-  
Cora examined the chute for any evidence but nothing was coming up. They decided to head down and search through the dumpster to see if they could find anything. It was mostly Cora however, as TJ was having trouble getting into the dumpster.  
“You’d think for an abandoned construction sight, there’d be an abandoned ladder somewhere,” TJ sighed after unsuccessfully trying to pull himself up over the ledge. It was dumpster that was just as tall as he was, pulling himself over was much more difficult than he anticipated.  
“Don’t sweat it,” Cora called from inside. “Don’t want you pulling your stitches, or you getting stuck in here.” TJ has to stop himself from saying something stupid.  
“Fair,” he managed to say tightly.  
“Now, I’m not really finding anything,” Cora reported before her head appeared above him. She lifted several evidence bags. “I have a tube of chapstick, a piece of jean fabric that looks torn recently, and a receipt. I guess testing these and checking out the receipt origins could give us some pointers. If our mystery screeched did escape through the chute, I wouldn’t be surprised if she dropped something.”  
“Okay but that chapstick is a men’s brand. And the jean fabric is a work uniform from the grease stains and construction plaster in the edge of it. I think the receipt is most plausible.” He looked around for a moment. “What else is in there?” He asked.  
Cora turned back towards the dumpster to look. “Not much,” she admitted. There’s a trash bag full of old packaging paper, some old boards, a pile of cigarette buds, a beer bottle.” She stopped then smirked. “Oh someone was drinking on the job. Now I know what happened to this place. Someone committed an infraction.”  
TJ groaned and Cora laughed. She pulled herself out of the dumpster handing the evidence to TJ. He gave her a hand as she hopped down from the ledge and they walked back to the car.  
—————-  
“I’ll call you as soon as the lab results are in,” Cora assured to the very quiet Lt. detective sitting in her passenger seat. “Hey are you asleep?”  
“What?” TJ snapped out of his thoughts. “No. But I’m starting to hurt a little, should have brought my stuff with me.”  
“Something still bothering you?” She asked.  
No response. She was going to ask again when he suddenly asked, “ Do you trust me?”  
Cora’s words caught in her throat. “Ah. What do you mean by that? I - It’s never a good thing when people say that you know? God, now I sound like you.”  
“No, it’s just. None of this is making sense and I’m not fully capable of working this case. I just… wanted to know if you still trust my judgment on this one…”  
Cora relaxed a little. Tj really was something, and there wasn’t a word that she could come up for it yet.  
“Caruso, There really isn’t a lot of evidence to support your claim or theory. But I’m just as stumped as you are so we’re just exploring all our options.”  
“If I’m wrong,” TJ sighed. “I don’t know, I’m sorry for putting you through all of this.”  
Cora didn’t ask for him to elaborate as Tj politely requested for a stop at the pharmacy to pick up a refill then head home.  
—————-  
That night, TJ was sitting downstairs reading on the couch. His father had retired to bed and TJ assured him he would be soon to follow suit. It was around 11, when he noticed the growing discomfort in his side. Which was odd as he had taken his pain medication only an hour ago, it should have been working by now. He slowly got up and moved to the kitchen to read his prescribed medicine. Seeing the label indicating it was safe to take a 2nd dose sooner if needed, he quickly downed another and decided it was time for bed.  
Starting up the stairs a blinding pain brought him to a halt. He gasped and sat heavily on the stairs.  
“Anthony,” someone whispered. His head shot up as he searched for the source of the sound. His eyes fell in a figure standing near the front door.  
“Mom?!” TJ exclaimed before doubling over again. She knelt down in front of him.  
“Oh Anthony,” she whispered, carefully holding the side of his face. “I’ve missed you so much. I’m so sorry I left you.”  
“Y-y-you’re -,” he stuttered.  
“I know,” she hushed. “Don’t worry, I will see you again. I promise.” TJ had collapsed on the steps, trying to regain control of his breathing and the pain. There was a distant sound, then thumping in the floor.  
In a moment, there was a blanket around his shoulders and his father’s strong hands holding him carefully.  
“Kid you gotta talk to me, what hurts? Do you forget to take your pain meds?”  
“No, no, no,” TJ slowly shook his head. He didn’t realize how much he was shaking or how sweaty he was up until his father hugged him tightly.  
“You’re scaring me, kid. What happened?” He asked gently.  
TJ looked to the empty entry way. He hesitated. “I… I saw mom.”  
————————  
Tony was careful to talk as quietly as he could manage when updating Cora. He had managed to get TJ to the couch, and within minutes he was fast asleep from exhaustion. Despite the worst being over with his son at the moment, his heart was still racing.  
“Listen, I… I don’t know what to do,” he admitted.  
“What happened?” she asked worriedly.  
“I don’t know,” Tony sighed. “I heard a noise and found TJ collapsed on the steps, shaking and doubled over. He said he had just taken his pain meds and had taken the approved second dose in case one wasn’t working. But…” he glanced over at TJ sleeping fetal on the couch.  
“But…?” Cora prompted.  
“...He said he saw her. Connie. His mother.” Tony rubbed at his face, his anxiety growing. “I don’t know what that means.”  
“What that means?!” Cora exclaimed. “Tony, your son his hallucinating! Obviously he isn’t getting better if he’s starting to hallucinate his late mother!” The was an awkward pause. “I mean you no disrespect Mr. Caruso. God rest Connie’s soul, but we really need to get TJ back to the hospital for the doctors to check him over again.”  
Tony bit his tongue. He really didn’t know what he should say, the many choices bouncing around his head like rubber balls in a small room.  
“What do I do?” He said aloud.  
“Look, I’ll be over in 10 minutes,” Cora assured. “Just have him ready to go, ok?”  
“Ok,” Tony hesitantly agreed before ending the call. He looked back again towards the somehow small and vulnerable form of TJ on the couch and frowned. If he didn’t tell his kid the truth, his respectable, hard-working and well decorated son could be faced with the fall of insanity.


	3. Chapter 3

The doctor’s couldn’t find anything. No sepsis or infection and no common hallucinogen in his system to indicate the cause of TJ’s recent “hallucination”.  
The more doctor’s tossed around the terms “unstable”, “neurosis” and other such negative mental illness terms around Tony, the more he squirmed. It just wasn’t right.  
It got worse the following day of TJ’s 2nd hospitalization when Cora spoke up. They were getting lunch in the hospital cafeteria. I’d hate to admit it, but we’re making no progress on TJ’s claim of a woman ever being in that building. I’m starting to wonder if maybe he had only thought he heard a scream. I mean, he’s been pretty down about Connie recently. I wonder if the grief is starting to get to him.”  
Again Tony looked away. “Well TJ isn’t crazy, I mean, I know my son. And he hasn’t had another hallucination since he got here.”  
“He did have another one but he said he was fully aware it was a hallucination. It was his mother standing by the door of his room.” Cora reprieved. “He told me as soon as I first got here today.”  
Tony heaved a rather heavy sigh.  
“But, I do see how it’s messing with him,” Cora sat down on a seat across from him. “He doesn’t trust himself anymore. What with these episodes and his inability to go very long without exhausting himself is really hurting his self-esteem.”  
Tony still didn’t speak. His lunch didn’t look very appetizing.  
“What’s up with you? You haven’t stopped wiggling around in your chair,” Cora pointed out. “Is there something else that you think is going on?”  
Tony hesitated, “It has something to do with -,”  
Cora’s phone rang and he gladly stopped talking. She apologized as she answered the phone. “Ryan you better have something good.” There was frantic rambling that could be heard on the other end. “Hey. Slow down and speak English. You used the new testing system? What did you use?” A pause. “Oh.”  
Tony furrowed his brow, trying to be pretended in the fries on his plate.  
Cora gasped. She pulled out a pen and started writing on her napkin. “Ryan you actually just helped me save Caruso. Tell Loomis to get down to the hospital immediately.” Tony dropped the fries.  
“What?”  
Cora picked up the napkin to show him. “Ryan was able to use our new forensics testing system in the lab. Caruso had been complaining about how tired he’s been I just suggested if we tested his medication, just to give Ryan something to do. Turns out your son’s medication has been tampered with. There’s barely an pain medication related stuff in there. Instead it’s mostly this uncommon drug called ——. It’s a hallucinogen. It can days to weeks to wear off without proper treatment and to know what a common side effect is?”  
“What?”  
“Exhaustion,” Cora stood up. “We need to tell TJ and his doctors right now.”  
————————  
After notifying the doctors of their recent discovery, they delivered the good news to TJ. He was, unsurprisingly, dozing when they arrived to his room. His mood hadn’t brightened when he saw it was them; they knew he was expecting news that would be crushing to himself and his career. They took a seat next to his bed while he put his glasses on.  
“What happened?” he asked. “I’m crazy? Being sent to the psych ward?” Cora and Tony couldn’t help but hold back their relief in laughter and TJ sat there, looking borderlined depressed. “Oh. Figures. I guess that’s what happens when you see your dead mother at night.”  
“TJ!” Cora exclaimed handing him the napkin. “You’re not crazy! You were being drugged!” TJ blinked, obviously confused. He slowly took the napkin and read it carefully.  
“Wait, how?” he asked.  
“Your pain medication,” Tony smirked. “Someone knew what they were doing. But that’s why you weren’t feeling any better. Your pain meds were 75% loopdy drugs and only 25% legitimate pain meds. You’ve been on them for so long now that your body’s still suffering the drug effects.”  
“Hallucinations, and major exhaustion,” Cora finished. Tj absorbed this information for a moment then laughed (with some care).  
“So did we catch the person?” he asked. Cora shook her head.  
“Loomis is on his way over right now to coordinate, but I think we can start narrowing it down.”  
TJ nodded. “So what do I do? I’m not actually crazy I was just being drugged.”  
“Yeah, and they’re still knockin in your system,” Tony reminded him. “You’re still going to have to sit back until the doctors have given the okay that you’re not going to see any flying monkeys or somethin.” TJ sighed, but knew full well his dad was, for once, right.  
“Listen,” Cora assured. “We’ll be back okay? And it shouldn’t be long before you’re out of the hospital now that the doctor’s know what they’re doing.” TJ yawned, nodding in agreement. “Get some sleep, we’ll be back before you know it.”  
Tony and Cora got up to leave when TJ half muttered: “Wear your vest.” Before drifting off to sleep.  
____________  
It was the next day and TJ was ready for some good news. In all fairness, he did get good news, just not the kind he was expecting.  
“What?”  
His doctor stood slightly uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, but this is the best option to get you recovered fast enough.”  
“But I’m not a drug addict, why would I…”  
“It’s only based off the same concept. There’s a lot of this stuff still in your system and your body is having a hard time fighting it. We’re helping it along but the side effects can be… severe.”  
“It is the fast option though, right?” TJ asked carefully.  
“Yes, versus going to rehab for 3 months, you’ll only be in the hospital for a couple more days,” the doctor confirmed. TJ rubbed his face.  
“Being registered to a drug rehab center doesn’t look good for my record,” he sighed. “Fine, let’s do the couple days.”  
When the doctor left, Tony, Cora, and Burl were soon to take his place.  
“Was that the doc?” Tony asked. TJ nodded.  
“What did he say?” Cora questioned.  
“He says I can either go to rehab for 3 months or take the intensive 3-4 day ‘recovery route’,” he said with air quotations.  
“I don’t think you would be caught dead in a rehab center,” Burl pointed out.  
“You got that right,” Tony agreed. “At least not registered in one.”  
“3 months?” Cora frowned.  
“And that doesn’t even garuntee I’ll stop suffering from the effects of this drug,” TJ sighed. “I had to sign off on the intensive recovery though.”  
“What’s so bad about getting clean in 3 to 4 days with garuntee?” she asked.  
“Only that it gets worse,” TJ deadpanned. “Or, at least, at first it does. Symptoms get increasingly, almost dangerously worse.”  
“Okay, so worse case scenario, you see things flying through the air or you sleep through all of it,” Tony pointed out. “How is that dangerous?”  
“Because once someone had a heart attack and coded during one of their hallucinations. And someone else didn’t wake up when they went to take a hard nap,” TJ explained. He sat back in his bed a little bit. “I’m a cop. I’ve already taken quite a few days off of work and I can’t keep my career in this state. I’ve got to try.”  
“Wouldn’t being a cop make your hallucinations worse?” Burl pointed out. Everyone shot him glares except for TJ who was slightly confused. “I mean, all the traumatic things you experience,” Burl clarified. “I mean you were shot just last week, trapped in a building with people hunting you down with the threat of said building about to come crashing down at any moment.”  
The heart moniter quickened ever so slightly, and just enough for everyone to notice. TJ let out a nervous laugh. “Again, no other options really. I do want to get back to my job. I want to finish this case.”  
There wasn’t much else to talk about after that. Cora explained to TJ they had run into another dead end with the search and still had yet to find anyone. Now they were back to square one.  
TJ encouraged them that they were doing a good job and discussed backtracking until the nurse encouraged it was time for his visitors to leave.  
______________________________  
Per request of both TJ and his doctor, no one got to see of TJ for the next couple days except for his father. Who would come out looking more frantic than when they went in. It was the beginning of day 3 that he was even more agitated.  
“How is he?” Cora asked as he got in the car.  
“Not good,” Tony admitted. “Poor kid was freaking out, and Anthony doesn’t just start screaming, he internalizes it. Everything. Doctor said he was up half the night with half nightmares and half hallucinations of being shot, or trapped, or hunted down. And he kept babbling about cigarettes. It’s day 3 shouldn’t he be getting better?”  
“Well they said it would be 3-4 days till he started showing signs of improvement,” Cora reminded him. “They said it was 3-4 days but always fail to mention recovery.”  
“Recovery from the recovery,” Tony scoffed. “Where we headed?”  
“Well, I have to pick up a prescription for one of our inmates back at the precinct,” Cora held up a note. “He’ll be escorted off to correctionals soon, but I managed to work a few extra days with him since he hates his cell so much, and I have yet to get anything from him.”  
“Alright,” Tony muttered. “It’s a slow day anyway.”  
—————-  
At the pharmacy, Tony sat in the car while Cora ran inside. Cora walked up to the counter greeted by an middle-aged woman who reeked of cigarettes. “What ya fetchin?” She drawled.  
“A prescription for Hick Roland,” Cora instructed. The pharmacist frowned.  
“You aren’t Roland,” she pointed out. “What happened to him? He’s a usual.”  
“He was arrested,” Cora quipped. “Sitting behind bars makes it kind of difficult to pick up your own medication.”  
The lady got up from her seat and started looking through the awaiting bags of medication. She tusked when she picked one up. “Hold on, seems only half the prescription is in here.” She limped away into the back and Cora couldn’t help her frustrated sigh.  
She came back a moment later, setting the bag on the counter. “Everything’s in there,” she assured. “Good day.” The pharmacist glanced up at the clock and grabbed her jacket, retreating to the back. Cora frowned and walked out.  
Inside the car, Cora tossed the medication into the backseat. “Don’t tell me you got the bitchy pharmacist?” Tony said, carefully putting in his seatbelt.  
“Her?” Cora pointed to said pharmacist who stepped out in the side alley. She linked over to the corner and pulled out a cigarette.  
“Yeah,” Tony grumbled. “Started a couple weeks ago. Been there every time I pick up TJ’s pain meds. Real pain in the ass.”  
In a slightly soured mood, the pair left.  
————  
Day 4 and Cora got the okay to stop in and visit TJ as he was feeling slightly more himself. She got to sit down and talk to him for a better part of an hour. He most definitely looked like mess, slight stubble standing out on his face with dark, weary eyes wasn’t the greatest look on him.  
She had just finished telling him about the rude pharmacist when a nurse came in to check his vitals.  
“How are you though?” Cora asked. “I mean, I’m sorry I wasn’t here to support you.”  
“No it’s okay,” TJ shrugged. “It was more of just… exaggerated nightmares. Or lots of sleeping. It’s good you weren’t here.”  
“Well I’m sorry but we still haven’t made any progress on the case,” Cora sighed. “The reciept was a dead end, it was almost a year old. And Roland is psycho. He was rocking around in his bed muttering about ‘rose ciggy’s’, whatever that means.” Tj sat up, startling both the nurse and Cora.  
“Tj?”  
“Do you have the case file?” He asked. Cora tentatively passed it to him. He started flipping through the notes. He pointed to Roland’s. “What prescription does he take?”  
“Um, vicadin, for back pain,” Cora said.  
“That’s pain medication,” Tj flipped through the file some more. “What does he take?” He pointed to another suspect photo.  
“What? He… takes vicadin. He had knee surgery… a year ago,” Cora said slowly, starting to slip into thought.  
“Cigarettes!” TJ exclaimed. “That’s What was wrong!”  
“Explain.”  
“At the construction site,” TJ explained. “You said there was a pile of cigarettes in the dumpster. Why would there be a specific pile in the dumpster?”  
“Unless someone had used the chute and was stuck in there,” Cora gasped. “Had to wait until it was safe to leave.”  
TJ rubbed his face trying to think, “Ah who is it that reeks of cigarettes.”  
“The pharmacist?” Cora suggested.  
“Her name is Rose!” Tj suddenly remembered.  
“Oh my god and she has a limp!” Cora realized.  
“It was Rose,” Tj said, putting together the pieces. “She’s been dealing for years and recently opened an operation through the pharmacy. Because the drugs she deals resemble or bond well with pain medication, that’s how she gets it out. That’s how I was drugged, she saw my name and prescription and swapped the medication.”  
“Ok but what’s the motive?” Cora asked. “What was she doing at the construction sight?”  
“I don’t know,” TJ admitted, “But it’s easy to say she was out to get me. I’m guessing that meeting was a setup. Rose was luring us there but didn’t inform the others.”  
“That explains the disorganization.”  
“But as soon as we showed up Rose instructed them to attack, specifically me.”  
Cora backtracked, “Okay But This doesn’t explain the explosions.”  
“Rose is a chemist,” Tj said. “She made several crude chargers that weren’t set to detonate at a specific time, but they were meant to detonate quickly and because of how crude they were made some just didn’t.”  
“I’m guessing because no one was trapped after the first one, everyone started to leave. So she screamed for help to keep you in the building,” Cora realized. She sat down next to TJ. “Then she sent those men after you and escaped down the chute. I’m guessing they all had their own personal grudges against you too.”  
TJ’s mind flashed back to that night. Bleeding out and hiding behind a pile of boxes, fearing for his life. Those two men, angry as ever, smelling him out like animals. He just remembered seeing the gun and -  
“Tj!” Cora shook him gently. He snapped out of his daze. The heart monitor slowed down a considerable pace.  
“Sorry,” he muttered, rubbing his face. “Probably slipped into another hallucination. How bad was it?”  
“This wasn’t too bad,” the nurse piped up. “Only a couple seconds but your blood pressure started to go through the roof. Might be time to rest a little.”  
Tj sighed, obviously disheartened. Cora pat his hand. “Just one or two more days, remember?” Cora reminded him. “You’re doing great, Caruso. If you’ll excuse me, I have an arrest to make.”  
“Don’t forget picking up a cigarette for evidence,” Tj called out as she headed out the door.  
The nurse carefully urged him to lie back down and get some sleep. And as soon as he did, the world melted away as he drifted off.  
———————-  
Tony decided to drop by the hospital to see to getting his son out of there. As he approached his room, he noticed a figure standing by the door to his room. It slowly waved, turned and walked away where Tony caught their face as they reached the stairs.  
Connie.  
He was shocked stiff. He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak as she disappeared into the stairwell. When he did recover, he slowly made his way to his son’s room. Tj was awake, staring at the door. His heart monitor was a little faster than usual but he smiled when his dad walked in.  
“You okay?” He asked, uncertain how to breach the topic. He was certain his son would start yelling any moment.  
“Eh, I’m alright,” TJ sighed. “Doc said there’s a chance I could still have a minor hallucination every once in a while for the next week. Kinda explains why I just saw mom standing in the doorway.”  
Tony held his breath. “Well…” he thought for a moment. “Well let’s get you out of here.”  
———————-  
After TJ was released he went back to work the next day, eager for some normality. He was given a warm welcome but restricted to desk duty until he was fully recovered. So as he sat filling out paperwork for cases and such, Cora would drop by to spend her lunch hour. Sometimes she was joined by Burl and Ryan. They’d sit and eat, catch up or discuss miscellaneous cases or plan their Friday night, if it was ever available. But they never neglected to leave TJ alone for very long. And if ever a yawn slipped they’d tease him about if he can sleep with his eyes open or take a 2 second power nap.  
But they always stood by his side.  
And Tj couldn't help but think that maybe this dysfunctional family was the family he needed all along.  
—————  
End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I had a lot of fun writing this. Hope I tied up the loose ends, cause I tend to not do that sometimes.   
> Thanks for all the support, you guys are way too kind:) Let me know what other good cop stories you'd like to read!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really just writing for the sake of writing and testing out Ao3, but I would love some writing prompts for future Good Cop stories!  
> Thanks!  
> -P


End file.
